Quality management is about making sure that whatever you do, you do it well every time.
We’ve put together some top tips to help your business understand how the seven principles of quality management apply to you based on the quality management principles from ISO 9000:2015.
1. Customer focus
The primary focus of quality management is to meet customer requirements and to strive to exceed customer expectations. Quality itself is not a fixed concept, but is defined by customer expectations. Find out what your customers really want. Ask them if they are satisfied with what you are providing. Ask them if you could be doing anything better for them.
2. Leadership
Leaders at all levels establish unity of purpose and direction and create conditions in which people are engaged in achieving the organization’s quality objectives. You’re the boss, it’s your business, you decide: where you’re going, how you’ll get there and who’s going with you. If you work with other people make sure they know what you want, what you want to achieve and by when.
3. Engagement of people
Competent, empowered and engaged people at all levels are essential to enhance the organization’s capability to create and deliver value. Value what people are good at, and work to their strengths. If skill, knowledge or experience is needed, hire someone who has it, or ensure the relevant training is available.
4. Process approach
Consistent and predictable results are achieved more effectively and efficiently when activities are understood and managed as interrelated processes that function as a coherent system. Look at everything that needs to be done, work out how the different parts fit together and make a start-to-finish plan so that everything works.
5. Improvement
Successful organizations have an ongoing focus on improvement. Quality management talks a lot about continual improvement. Continual improvement means ‘don’t stop looking’, it doesn’t mean ‘keep taking action’. Only make changes that work for your ambitions. Don’t do it for the sake of it.
6. Evidence-based decision making
Once in a while you need to stand back from the day-to-day and take a long hard look at your business from every angle. Get a big picture view of those things you’ve been measuring and do some cross-checking. What does the evidence tell you?
7. Relationship management
For sustained success, organizations manage their relationships. Talk to your customers. Find out what really matters, don’t assume. Can your suppliers keep up with an increase in demand? Talk it through before it becomes a problem. If it already is a problem, meet and work out a new agreement. Email it to each other and keep each other in the loop about changes or concerns.
For more information call: 1300 730 134 email: info.aus@bsigroup.com and visit: bsigroup.com/en-au
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